Cumberlands Honors Retiree Norma Patrick

Dr. Jim Taylor, President of UC, congratulates Norma Patrick on her years of service to UC and her retirement at the UC Annual Faculty and Staff Dinner.

Williamsburg, Ky. - University of the Cumberlands honored Mrs. Norma Patrick retiring education professor and a Tier II Trainer in the Kentucky Internship Program, at its 19th annual Faculty-Staff Dinner on April 15.

Patrick, who joined the Cumberlands staff in 1985, earned both her Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Elementary Education from State University of New York at Cortland. She also holds 6th Year Program Principal Certification from Union College.

As a member of the Kentucky Advisory Council for the Internships and the Continuous Assessment Review Committee, she has served on numerous state accreditation visits as an examiner for the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board and as a consultant to many colleges preparing for accreditation. Additionally, she has served in several positions, including President, for the Kentucky Association of Teacher Educators. Norma has also served the international community as a conversational English teacher in China and a consultant to secondary science teachers in Thailand.

Patrick has made strengthening UC’s undergraduate teacher preparation program a top priority, devoting countless hours to collaboration with public school educators, with a special focus on working with the classroom instructors responsible for supervising UC’s student teachers.

Norma has been honored numerous times by the UC community with the Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1995, the J.B. Fuqua Award for Excellence in Teaching twice, and the Student Government Association’s Honored Professor award twice.

Upon retiring, Ms. Patrick plans to spend as much time as possible with her 91 year old mother in New York, her three grandchildren in Texas, and her sister in Florida.